Chicken with swollen abdomen

[littlefarmgirl9]

My black Australorp penny has been walkin weird lately. She walks slowly and with a wider stance than normal. Yesterday she pooped and it was white, all urates. Today I felt around inside her vent and found nothing but more urates. Penny sat down a few times today. From the outside her abdomen is swollen but not squishy. I can't squeeze the sides of her abdomen and feel my figertips touch.
She is not egg bound since there is no egg inside her. What's wrong with my Penny? I also don't think it is Ascites because her comb and wattles are totally normal.

 

[ellie62706]

is it her crop?

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

No, I should've mentioned I also tried draining her crop. Nothing came out. It feels normal, mostly liquid with some solid bits

 

[ellie62706]

I' not sure then, sorry. Good luck!

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

I checked her crop early this morning and it wasn't drained. There was still a bit of liquid and some grainy bits; at least that's what it felt like. Anyone else have any ideas??

 

[rebrascora]

Unfortunately your hen is most likely suffering from a reproductive problem like Salpingitis (inflammation and infection of the oviduct) or internal laying which may have lead to Egg Yolk Peritonitis. These are sadly all too common in mature hens. Both of these cause egg material to build up in the abdomen and eventually th mass will constrict the gut to the point that waste cannot be eliminated. That backs them up and the crop slows down too. The mass also pushed their hips apart causing the wide stance you are seeing. Unfortunately there no really effective treatments and the chances are your girl will die and it may be kinder to help her over that hurdle. If you have ever seen a necropsy of a bird with Salpingitis it makes you realise the discomfort they must be in and how hopeless their situation is/was. I can PM you a link to a You Tube necropsy video of such a bird made by another BYC member, if you are not squeamish. It may help you understand how dire these situations are and perhaps make a difficult decision more easy. Of course, if you have an abundance of money there are veterinary options involving Xrays and possible surgery and hormonal implants to prevent future ovulation but these run to hundreds of $/£ and are risky and even if successful, may not extend the birds life by any great extent.
I'm sorry to paint such a negative outcome for your girl but if you do some research on the ailments I have mentioned, you will hopefully be able to make your own mind up about the prognosis. There are many, many posts here on BYC about these issues because they are so common. I believe @Nambroth is currently compiling information with a view to writing an article on the subject to help people like yourself.

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Thank you for all the information. I'm not going to cull Penny unless she gets significantly worse. Today I am going to give her some apple cider vinegar and Greek yogurt with probiotics to try and get her food digested. I'll keep you posted if anything important happens.

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Ok, anyone who still cares :
I fed penny some Greek yogurt and acv mixed with feed. Her crop had some air bubbles so I massaged it as she ate (VERY slowly), and there were a few burps with that awful smell that comes with sour crop. When Penny was done eating I felt in her end for any eggs she needed help passing. There were none; Penny pushed really hard to get my finger outta there, and with it came (gross I know):

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some reading about the many hen reproductive disorders:
https://wagwalking.com/bird/condition/impacted-oviduct
http://www.regenbiocorps.com/index.php/poultry-diseases/17-disorders-of-reproductive-systems

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Thank you @Eggcessive ! Penny has always laid slightly softer shelled eggs with little spots on them. She's also always been the runt if my flick, so maybe these are signs that she has something wrong that I can't fix. Whatever it is I'm keeping my fingers crossed fr penny!